Wearable device and method for indicating scoring and scoring athority

ABSTRACT

A wearable device and method includes a receiver, a transceiver, a processor, an authority indicator, and a scoring indicator for providing indication of authority and scoring from sporting equipment or user information. The sport of fencing benefits in particular from this device and method.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Sports are generally played according to rules. Players rely on sportsmanship to enforce rules and in competitive settings may also rely on a referee. Most sports require equipment to enable practice or play. Presently, most sporting equipment contains little or no electronics. It would be useful to enable instant feedback from play using sporting equipment for bearer of the equipment, their opponent, spectators, coaches, and referees. It would be useful if there were some way to sense events happening in sporting equipment or users of that sporting equipment and to provide indication of scoring and when participants are authorized to score based on the rules of play. There is presently no device which contains the rules of play as processor logic, indicates when a participant is authorized to score, and indicated scoring based on what is happening with the sports equipment and the rules of play. Rather, in most competitive sports, a referee is present to enforce the rules of play and decide on scoring and whether participants are authorized to make such scoring.

The modern sport of fencing is a good example of the present state of the art. Modern fencing relies heavily on electronics to facilitate scoring and play. The modern sport of fencing is hundreds of years old. Historically, referees and bout directors awarded points (or touches—where one opponent's weapon blade or tip makes contact with the target area of the other opponent) by visually observing two opponents and determining whether a touch occurred and whether the fencer scoring the touch should be awarded a point based on existing rules. The object of saber fencing, based on cavalry fencing on horseback, is to score touches by contacting a blade or tip of a fencer's weapon with an opponent's target area (above that opponent's waist including his arms and head). The object of foil fencing is to score touches by contacting the tip of a fencer's weapon with an opponent's target area (the opponent's torso). The object of epee fencing, based on first-blood duels, is to score touches by contacting the tip of a fencer's weapon with an opponent's target area (any part of the opponent's body). Each form of modern sport of fencing is very rapid. Often actions, contacts, and target areas are difficult to visually see. Modern fencing weapons are so light that skilled fencers can manipulate them with extreme speed in flurries of action. This speed renders it difficult to determine when touches are scored and who is authorized under the rules of competition to score them. Even where several officials are employed to judge a match, visual identification of scoring maneuvers and uniform enforcement of the rules of play is difficult. Disagreement between officials often occurs, due to the inconsistency in the quality of perspective enjoyed by the various officials. Moreover, judgment by visual observation is a subjective criterion, and the acuity of vision may vary among officials, and even in the same official.

In the 1970s electronic circuits were used to aid in awarding touches. FIG. 1 depicts the current state of the art fencing scoring system. Each fencer X, Y holds a weapon 12, 14 which includes a blade 20 connected to a wire running down each fencer's sleeve (not shown) and connected behind each fencer to a reel wire 24, 26 affixed to a retractable reel 28, 30. Each fencer X, Y wears a jacket 21, 22 which can be made of a conductive material, a mask 30 which can be made of conductive material, and a wire 31 connecting the mask to the jacket 21. The terminal of the reel wire 24, 26 is also connected electrically to the fencer's jacket 21, 22. Each reel 28, 30 is connected to an electrical scoring apparatus 10 that has indicators Wx, Cx, Wy, Cy which alternately illuminate to indicate a touch. If the weapon being fenced is saber, then when fencer Y in FIG. 1 contacts fencer X with any portion of the blade 20 of weapon 14 on a conductive area of either jacket 22 or mask 33, a circuit connects and indicator light Wy indicates fencer A scored a touch. A referee or director D will use this information and his or her visualization of the action to decide whether fender Y's touch should be awarded a point. When fencer X in FIG. 1 contacts fencer Y with the blade 16 of weapon 12 on fencer Y's conductive area of either jacket 22 or mask 33, a circuit connects and indicator light Wx illuminates. Foil and epee fencing rely on a tip of weapon 12 contacting valid target area on an opponent. In all three weapons, often both lights Wy and Wx will illuminate and a director or referee will need to determine to which fencer, if any, a touch should be awarded according to the rules of the weapon being fenced. In the case of saber and foil, these rules include a requirement that a fencer have “right-of-way”. This can be the right to attack based on which fencer moved their weapon forward first, which fencer moved their opponents weapon out of the way, which fencer block the other fencer's attack, etc. Which fencer has right-of-way can change during the course of fencing action. Presently, the only way to detect which fencer has right-of-way is after-the fact (i.e., if only one light Wy or Wx is illuminated after one fencer scores a touch), or by visual inspection by a referee or competitor to break down the action preceding both lights Wy and Wx illuminating and deciding which, if any, fencer had right-of-way or was authorized to score. There is a long unmet need to have a real-time, automated way in which right-of-way scoring authorization can be judged and indicated and have far fewer confusing occurrences where awarding hits is difficult because multiple indicator lights are illuminated.

State-of-the-art fencing scoring equipment apparatuses contain some limited programmed logic in the form of lockout timing. Lockout timing is programmed into a signal processor within scoring apparatus 10 such that if both fencers make valid hits on each other's respective target areas within a few 1/10 ths of a second both indicator lights Wy and Wx will illuminate. However, if both fencers make valid hits on each other's respective target areas, but beyond the few 1/10ths of a second “lockout timing” only the first fencer to hit will have their respective indicator light Wy or Wx illuminated. This lockout timing is fixed per weapon and set according to international fencing competition rules. This is of limited use, as it only is clock-based and reflects the time between hits to ensure hits outside a set time window after an initial hit are discounted. It does not take into account may other factors which can determine right-of-way, such as which fencer moved their weapon forward first, which fencer moved their opponents weapon out of the way, which fencer block the other fencer's attack . In fact, having only the lockout timing as automated authorization information actually encourages fencers to take advantage of the electronic system. For example, knowing that the lockout timing can be manipulated to advantage, a fencer who has been blocked, and therefore lost right-of-way may continue forward with their attack hoping to score a hit and rely on the lockout timing to discredit their opponent's forthcoming counter-attack. This leads to fencing actions which are less clean and forces competitors to fence such that they try best to take advantage of the electrical system to score rather than concentrate on abiding by the rules. It would be very useful to integrate the lockout timing into a wearable device to eliminate costly components in a fencing system (i.e., scoring apparatus 10, two reels 28, 30, two electrical wires connecting reels 28, 30 to electrical scoring apparatus 10, wires in fencers' sleeves) and include additional information from the fencing equipment in a manner such that scoring authorization is uniformly enforced, is perceptible to competitors, referees and spectators by having fewer confusing outcomes where both indicator lights are illuminated, and eliminates the desirability of taking advantage of the electrical scoring system to circumvent the actual rules of the sport. Wearable electronics are just beginning to enter the main stream. Current state of the art products such as the Nike Fuel Band^(TM) include a variety of sensors such as: pedometers, biometric sensors, accelerometers, etc. They contain processors and user interfaces which record and display information regarding user motion and activity. The data contained in these products can be wirelessly transmitted to a mobile device and are connected to applications which provide users with feedback such as how many calories are burned in a day or how much time is spent sleeping. However such devices presently do not provide the wearer with feedback based on physical events of sporting equipment and provide feedback on which opponent is authorized to score.

The invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a wearable device which is programmed with logic that can correspond to the rules of a sport, determine whether a player is authorized to score, and includes indicators for scoring authority and for scoring. This can better automate adjudication of scoring, clarify which participant can score at a given moment, remove subjectivity from enforcement of rules, and remove the ability to manipulate legacy scoring systems than the present state of the art allows. Because this occurs in a wearable device the user and spectators of the user can visualize the authority and scoring indicators in a sensory way before during and after the course of engaging in the sport without interrupting the training, match, game, etc., for example by illumining a particular color of light, making a noise or vibrating. The invention can also be entirely self-contained and requires no additional wiring to connect the wearable device and the sporting equipment if the sporting equipment also contains a wireless component. Alternatively the sporting equipment can deliver signal information via a wired connection to the wearable device. The wearable device can be programmed to synchronize with another device such that authority is determined via a negotiation between devices. For example, two competing fencers can synchronize their wearable devices prior to competing such that right-of-way can be determined in real time based on both fencers' actions. Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of the principles of the invention.

FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts a prior art fencing system;

FIG. 2 depicts a fencing system including a wearable device according to the invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a first view of a first configuration of a wearable device according to the invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a top-down view of the wearable device of FIG. 3 laid flat;

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram showing method steps according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2 depicts a fencing system according to the invention. Fencers x and y wear wearable devices 100 and 101, respectively. Wearable devices 100 and 101 are connected to their weapons 12, 14 by a wired connection or wirelessly. Weapons 12 and 14 can be enabled with sensors which output signals or can provide signals directly to wearable devices 100, 101, respectively, that are received and which represent a physical state of the corresponding weapons. This signal can be when fencer x contacts the appropriate target area of fencer y with the appropriate portion of weapon 12, this will send a first signal representing physical event signal from weapon 12 to wearable device 100 over the wired or wireless connection between wearable device 100 and weapon 12. Wearable device 100 receives the first signal. Wearable device 100 can also conduct a negotiation with wearable device 101 to generate a second signal based on any signal wearable device 101 received representing physical event of weapon 14. The second signal represents scoring authorization information and derives from motion, location, position, contact with another piece of sporting equipment, location of contact with another piece of sporting equipment, sound, current, voltage, resistance, capacitance, angle, acceleration, rotation, or contact location of one or both weapons 12 or 14, or any other physical event different from the event used to generate the first signal. Both wearable devices 100 and 101 process authority information and perform a negotiation on which fencer has right-of-way to attack (i.e., does the physical event signal meet a threshold that an appropriate portion of weapon 12 contacted the target area of fencer y within an allowable time period) and generates an authority signal which activates an indicator 102 (for example a light) disposed on or within one or both wearable devices 100, 101. So when fencer x has authority to score (right-of-way) indicator 102 will illuminate one programmed color (i.e., blue) and when fencer x then scores a valid touch on fencer y while authorized to do so, indicator 102 will, for example, illuminate another programmed color (i.e., red). However, if fencer x does not have right-of-way, indicator 102 will not illuminate and even if fencer x makes a valid hit on fencer y, indicator 102 may not illuminate. Alternatively indicator 102 can be composed of multiple indicators (i.e., one for signaling authorization to score and another to signal scoring). Wearable device 100 provides fencer x, spectators of fencer x, a referee of fencer x, etc. with an indication (in this example a visual indication) that fencer x had right-of-way authorization and when fencer x scored a touch during the course of a bout.

Wearable device 100 can also wirelessly communicate the physical event signal and/or perform the negotiation over the authorization signal with wearable device 101. Prior to fencing, fencers x and y can synchronize and/or pair wearable devices 100 and 101 to communicate over a wireless connection 104. The synchronization and/or pairing can be achieved using Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth, Wifi, ISO 15693, ISO 14443, or any other contact or contactless pairing technique. Fencers x and y can initiate this synchronization by pressing a synchronization/pairing button on wearable devices 100 and 101 respective or by simply bringing wearable devices 100 and 101 in adequate proximity of one another to establish, for example, an NFC pairing. The synchronization/pairing enables signaling between wearable devices 100 and 101 over wireless connection 104. Wireless connection 104 can be a Bluetooth, Wifi, or any other wireless connection operable to allow communication over the approximate distances between fencers x and y. Once devices 100 and 101 are synchronized/paired and communicating over wireless connection 104, when fencer x has right-of-way and scores a valid touch on fencer y, wearable device 100 can signal to wearable device 101 over wireless connection 104 which receives the signal or signals and activates indicator 103 to, for example, illuminate the same color as indicator 102 to indicate that fencer x scored the touch. When fencer x scores a valid touch and has right-of-way authorization, both indicator 102 and indicator 103 will, for example, display a red color. Conversely, when fencer y scores a valid touch, both indicator 102 and indicator 103 will, for example, display a green color. This allows the fencers x and y, a referee, and spectators to observe scoring nearly simultaneously simply by viewing one of indicator 101 and 103. All that is required to participate in fencing (aside from requisite protective equipment) is wearable devices 100 and 101 and weapons 12 and 14 which together make up a system that enables participation in the modern sport of fencing without requiring all the costly reels, wires, and scoring machines of the prior art system (which are also prone to failure) just to enable play.

FIG. 3 depicts a first view of one configuration of wearable device 100. Wearable device 100 forms an accessory band 106 which allows wearable device 100 to be secured to a person, for example on their wrist. In the example of FIG. 3, band 106 is flexible and can be secured on a person by overlapping closure portions 107, 111. Closure portions 107, 111 can be formed of Velcro or any other material or mechanism used to secure an article. For use in sports it is important to maintain the position of said wearable device in a substantially stationary position on the human body during physical activity using said at least one piece of sporting equipment. This prevents damage to the wearable device 100, interruption in signaling between the sporting equipment and the wearable device 100, and discomfort for the wearer of wearable device 100. So band 106 and closure portions 107, 111 should generate adequate tightness. Alternatively, band 106 can be formed at least partially from an elastic material which provides the requisite tightness. Band 106 can also be formed of an uninterrupted strip of material which may not require closure potions 107, 111 but rather, for example be configured to slip over a person's hand onto their wrist. Further, band 106 can include additional securing mechanisms such as secondary elastic band 109 that assists in maintaining a substantially stationary position and can help maintain contact between wearable device 100 and the skin of its wearer.

Wearable device 100 also includes indictor 102 for indicating scoring. Indicator 102 can be a single indicator such as a light or can be an array of lights (i.e., LEDs). It can also be formed, in a second example, by a light source located within components enclosure 108 which passes light through a diffusing layer that is visible through one or more openings in an outer layer of band 106 (as depicted in FIG. 3). Indicator 102 can also be any other visible, audible, vibration, or tactile indicator. Wearable device Wearable device 100 can also include indicator 213 for indicating scoring authorization (i.e., right-of-way).

Wearable device 100 includes component enclosure 108 which houses the signal receiver, processor, indicator signal generator, power supply, wireless components, selection mechanisms, etc. Component enclosure 108 must be made from an adequately robust substance to protect its contents from breakage during the course of play. User selection inputs, such as buttons 112 can also be disposed on or within component enclosure 108. Buttons 112 can be used, for example, to initiate synchronization/paring, select indicator settings (i.e., indicator color, sound, enable multiple indicators, etc.), or select sport (i.e., select processor logic to enable indication of appropriate events and states for particular sports; for example selecting epee fencing rules versus saber fencing rules).

FIG. 4 depicts a top-down view of the wearable device 100 of FIG. 3 laid flat with the cover of component enclosure 108 removed. Inside component enclosure 108 is a circuit board supporting various components. The components on the circuit board can have any topology. Component enclosure 108 can contain a socket 113 for receiving an input from a wired connection to sporting equipment that may serves as a signal receiver. It can also contain a processor 114, a power supply 115, a first wireless device 116, a sound generator 117, an LED driver and array 118, a memory 120, and a second wireless device 119. In a wired configuration, a user connects the output of electronic-enabled sporting equipment into socket 113 which receives physical event and state signals from the sporting equipment. An example of this would be connecting a fencing weapon such as weapon 12 from FIG. 2 into socket 113. This connection can be an electrical connection or any other signal connection known in the art. Alternatively, if electronic-enabled sporting equipment includes wireless capability, first wireless device 116 can connect with the sporting equipment to receive physical event and state signals from the wireless-enabled sporting equipment. First wireless device 116 can be any kind of wireless device capable of interfacing with a wireless enabled sporting equipment, for example an RFID transceiver or a Bluetooth wifi module.

First signals representing physical states of a connected weapon may be passed from socket 113 and/or first wireless device 116 to processor 114. First wireless device 116 may also be a transceiver for sending and receiving authorization information from a second device which processor 114 processes and performs a negotiation with the second device based on stored logic to generate an authorization signal. Processor 114 is programmed with logic which enables it to receive the authorization information and generate an authorization signal which causes sound generator 117 to produce a sound, and/or LED driver and array 118 produces at least one light indicating scoring authorization. When processor 114 processes the first signal while indicating scoring authorization it may generate a scoring signal and cause sound generator 117 to produce a sound and/or LED driver and array 118 to produce at least one light indicating scoring.

Processor 114, in communication with a second device via the transceiver of second wireless device 119 performs and negotiation and can determine in real-time instantaneously which fencer has right-of-way during the fencing action. Information which can alter determination of right-of-way include detecting a parry (a block or deflection of an opponent's attacking blade), a distance parry (when one fencer initiates an attack and misses both the opponent's blade and the target area), a beat (a knocking-away of an opponent's blade preceding an attack), which portion of the blade or guard performs a parry or beat, blade angle, direction or acceleration of one or both weapons or fencers, which fencer moves forward first upon commencement of action, position of the fencer or weapon on the area of play, the angle or trajectory of one or both blades, or any other physical event of a weapon or fencer which the rules dictate contribute to determination of right-of-way. Both device 100 and second device perform a negotiation to effectively agree on which, if any fencer has right-of-way based on the aforementioned physical information. This negotiation can happen according to any known negotiation between two devices deciding on a mutual state. Which fencer has right-of-way can change during the course of action and such changes can be handled, for example, by continuous or scheduled negotiations between devices.

Processor 114 can also be programmed to assign scoring authorization signals for multiple lock-out timings, for example, one lockout timing for attacks after a parry, for counter-attacks, where both fencers move forward simultaneously, etc. This will require fencers to perform clean fencing actions because they will not have the ability to take advantage of flaws in the system, but must follow the rules which will be enforced by the wearable devices 100, 101.

Scoring authorization indication is also very useful in other sports where scoring authorization is required. This can, for example, include providing automatic indication of being within a requisite position vis a vis an area of play, e.g., on-sides in soccer (thereby authorized to score a goal), in the three-point zone in basketball, etc. Scoring authorization can be related to competitors motion, location, body position, distance from an opponent, distance from opponent's equipment, position within the area of play, electrical signal, speed, acceleration, timing, direction, equipment angle, or equipment contact.

Memory 120 can contain various sets of rules for various equipment types. When processor 114 connects with a connected piece of equipment (e.g., a fencing weapon) it can be programmed to detect which set of logic from memory 120 to employ to generate authority signals and scoring signals. This selectivity allows for use of wearable device 100 with various types of equipment, not simply fencing alone. Further, memory 120 can be updated with new rules, versions of rules, or with rules corresponding to alternate types of equipment, for example via first wireless connection 116 or second wireless connection 119. This enables wearable device 100 to be updated remotely with alternate sets of logic to remain current with a sport's rules, allow for multiple modes of operation (e.g., practice-mode, coaching-mode, etc.), or to function for multiple kinds of sports or equipment.

First receiver 116 and/or second receiver 119 may be configured to receive a physical event signal from a referee device. A referee device may be a device which wirelessly transmits to both opponents wearable devices 100 and 101 a clock-start signal. This information will be processed by processor 114 based on the programmed logic and used in addition to the authority information and the physical event information in the negotiation between the wearable devices 100 and 101 to generate the authority signal and/or the scoring signal.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram showing method steps for indicating scoring authority and scoring based on a physical event of at least one piece of sporting equipment on a wearable device 100. The method includes step 901 where fencers begin fencing. This can be upon the audible command of “fence” by a referee, can begin the second movement of either fencer is detected, when a referee depresses a button, or any other way of initiating action. Once fencing begins, so also begins continuous or periodic negotiation over which fencer has scoring authority. In step 902, wearable device 100 receives scoring authority information and decides whether to generate an authority signal. This can include any physical event information from sporting equipment, and can also include information from a referee device. In step 903, of wearable device 100 generates an authority signal based on fencer x having right-of-way. In step 904, wearable device does not generate an authority signal because fencer x does not have right-of-way. In step 905, wearable device 100 generates an authority signal because fencer x and fencer y both have right of way. Upon detection of physical event information from the at least one piece of sporting equipment processor 114 determines in step 906 whether the event complies with the lockout timing or not. Then if there is a scoring authority signal and compliance with lockout timing, processor 114 generates a scoring signal in steps 907 or 909.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A wearable device comprising: a receiver for receiving at least: a first signal from at least one piece of sporting equipment external to said wearable device, said first signal corresponding to at least one physical event of said sporting equipment; a transceiver capable of sending and receiving at least one second signal corresponding to authorization information; a processor capable of processing said first signal and said second signal based on logic corresponding to a plurality of rules of play, and capable of generating an authority signal and a scoring signal based on said first signal, said second signal, and said program logic; at least one authority indicator for indicating scoring authorization based on said authority signal; at least one scoring indicator for indicating scoring based on said scoring signal; and wherein said receiver, transceiver, processor, at least one authority indicator, and at least one scoring indicator are disposed on or within an accessory capable of being worn on the human body.
 2. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said authorization information comprises information about at least one physical event of said sporting equipment different from the physical event corresponding to said first signal.
 3. The wearable device of claim 2, wherein said authorization information corresponds to motion, location, position, contact with another piece of sporting equipment, location of contact with another piece of sporting equipment, sound, current, resistance, capacitance, angle, rotation, or contact location of said at least one piece of sporting equipment.
 4. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said at least one authority indicator can be activated, deactivated, or otherwise modified based on the authorization information and the program logic.
 5. The wearable device of claim 4, wherein said processor only generates a scoring signal when said at least one authority indicator indicates scoring authorization.
 6. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said authorization information comprises information about at least one physical event of the wearer of said wearable device.
 7. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein said authorization information corresponds to at least one of the group selected from: motion, location, body position, distance from an opponent, distance from opponent's equipment, position within the area of play, electrical signal, speed, acceleration, timing, direction, equipment angle, or equipment contact .
 8. The wearable device of claim 1, further comprising at least one sensor for generating additional authorization information.
 9. The wearable device of claim 8, wherein said processor is capable of processing said second signal and said authorization information from said sensor based on the program logic to generate said authority signal.
 10. The wearable device of claim 1, said receiver capable of receiving a signal from a second wearable device.
 11. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said transponder is capable of communication with a second wearable device.
 12. The wearable device of claim 11, wherein said transponder is capable of connecting wirelessly to said second wearable device, and said processor generates at least one of said authority signal and said scoring signal based at least in part on the second signal, additional authorization information received from said second wearable device, and the program logic.
 13. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said processor is capable of processing said first and second signal according to logic according to rules of play associated with said sporting equipment.
 14. The wearable device of claim 13, wherein said wearable device further comprises a memory for storing logic corresponding to multiple sets of rules of play according with different types of sporting equipment or methods of play.
 15. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein said processor processes logic corresponding to a set of rules selected from said multiple sets of rules in said memory upon detecting the type of sporting equipment.
 16. The wearable device of claim 15, wherein said processor detects the type of sporting equipment from a signal from said sporting equipment.
 17. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein said processor processes logic corresponding to set of rules selected from said multiple sets of rules in said memory based on a selection input to said wearable device.
 18. The wearable device of claim 1, further comprising a receiver capable of receiving data for programming said processor with said logic.
 19. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said receiver is capable of receiving a position signal from an area of play and generating said authority signal based at least in part on said position signal.
 20. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein said receiver is capable of receiving a signal from a referee device, and generating said authority signal based at least in part on said signal from referee device.
 21. The wearable device of claim 20, wherein said signal from said referee device further comprises a clock start signal and said processor is capable of generating an authority signal and a scoring signal when at least one of said first signal, said second signal, said clock start signal and said program logic dictate;
 22. A method of indicating scoring authorization and scoring on a wearable device comprising the steps of: receiving at least a first signal from at least one piece of sporting equipment external to said wearable device, said first signal corresponding to at least one physical event of said sporting equipment; receiving a second signal corresponding to authorization information; processing said first signal and said second signal based on program logic corresponding to a plurality of rules of play, generating an authority signal and a scoring signal when at least one of said first signal, said second signal, and said program logic dictate; indicating scoring authorization based on said authority scoring signal; and indicating scoring based on said scoring signal.
 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising only generating a scoring signal when said at least one authority indicator indicates scoring authorization.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising only generating an authority signal when at least one of said first signal, said second signal, a referee signal, and said program logic dictate. 